Home is where the heart is
by mirdaishan
Summary: While cleaning Morgan thinks about the past and she finally realizes she needs to tell Greg how she feels, unaware of the fact that Greg decided the same thing earlier. There's just one problem: Greg doesn't show up for work that night and he's not at home either...
1. Chapter 1

**Starting a new story for you guys, hope you'll like it! I do mention some things happening in Season 14, but I'm not sure if I should call them real spoilers or not...  
****Enjoy and please let me know what you think in a review! :)**

_**Chapter 1**_

It had been a day like any other so far. After he had gotten home, Greg had gone straight to bed, sleeping till three o'clock in the afternoon as usual. He had woken up and he could still remember his dream. It had been about Morgan – as usual. Ever since he had first met her hardly one day had passed without her on his mind. He had immediately liked her when he first saw her and after that, he had slowly fallen deeper and deeper in love with her. Sometimes he thought she liked him as well, but there had also been plenty of moments where he thought she was interested in someone else – Nick, Hodges or even Yeager, that guy from Dayshift.

But now Yeager had switched to the Denver crime lab, Hodges was still not interested in women since his break-up with Elisabetta and since the office Christmas party Greg was convinced Nick felt something for Finn, something Morgan knew as well. He remembered the two of them talking about it yesterday, when there had been computer problems at the lab and they hadn't been able to upload their crime photos yet. It had been a fun conversation, full of smiles and easy, enjoyable moments.

Greg remembered another conversation he had had with Morgan, nearly two years ago already. She had joined him in the breakroom and she had said out loud with that shy smile on her face that he was a hot guy, smart, funny, a total catch… He still remembered those words as if she had said them just yesterday. And he? He had joked around, apologized for walking out later, but then nothing again when she had said those other words he still remembered as if they had been said yesterday: 'The best is yet to come'.

One year, ten months and three weeks had passed since then and he hadn't done anything.

Nothing.

Zilch.

Nada.

It was like those three words had been put on a gigantic neon sign and they were blinking in front of his eyes right now like he was walking down the Strip. He had done absolutely nothing in return! He hadn't said anything to her to show her how he felt, he hadn't asked her out, he hadn't even gotten her his own gift for her birthday last month – he had just written his name on her birthday card and given Sara the money for the present she was going to buy on behalf of all of them.

Suddenly he felt like a total chicken. Maybe she didn't even like him back, but he finally had to do something! Tonight, when he saw her during shift – he knew they'd be working together as they hadn't finished their case from yesterday's shift yet – he would ask her if she wanted to have a drink with him and maybe catch an early movie. And then he'd finally tell her how he felt.

Satisfied with his decision he poured himself a cup of coffee. Then his cellphone went off and he forgot all about his decision for tonight.

* * *

On the other side of Vegas Morgan's day had started as usual as well – she had watched TV for a while after shift and made a list for the supermarket before she had gone to bed. She had gotten up earlier than usual, though, as she was planning to finally clean her whole house today.

_Funny_, she thought as she put the last chair back in its place, _spring cleaning – even if it's June already – always makes me think about the past. Maybe not even just spring cleaning, maybe just cleaning in general…_

She looked at the photo she had framed over a year ago. It was taken at the LVPD – CSI softball tournament, when she was about to hit. In the back, Greg was cheering for her. She had always loved the photo. Not because she was in it, but because of Greg being in the photo together with her. It was the only photo she had of the two of them together, actually. They had cameras around often enough, but they never ended up in front them. She had tried, of course, asking him to stand still for a second, saying she wanted to test the camera at a crime scene, but she hadn't been able to figure out a way yet how she could test the camera and be in the photo herself at the same time.

Greg, she thought with a sigh as she cleaned the glass of the photo frame. When she thought about the past few years, he was in almost every memory. Losing her job in LA, but moving to Vegas to face her father for the first time in years had led to meeting Greg. Thinking about being in the hijacked helicopter always made her remember how he had run up to her after the police had found her. When her father had been shot, he had been the first to show up at the scene. And when she had gotten shot herself after having been kidnapped he had been the first one next to her side, along with her father.

Thinking back made her realize she had been through a lot since she had moved to Vegas. And not just her, Greg as well. The case with his ex-girlfriend Alison, when he had gone back to the slaughter house all by himself and he had ended up being there with the murderer, the time he had been accused of planting evidence…

And then of course there were a dozen other things they had been through together. Fun things – the chocolate case, which had been their first case together, that he had turned out to be her secret Santa, finding a crucial piece of evidence together – but also less fun things, like digging through trash and finding a body stuffed in a box together. They weren't even such bad memories, she realized. It hadn't been fun of course, but still… She had been together with him and that immediately made it a little more fun!

She looked at the photo again. All those memories in her head made her realize something else. She loved him, she just couldn't put it any other way. And it was about time to finally tell him!

When she arrived at CSI that night, she felt a little nervous. Of course she could just wait for or plan the right moment to tell Greg how she felt, but that wasn't like her. She had made a decision and she wasn't going to waste any more time.

"Hey, Sara, have you seen Greg anywhere?" she asked her co-worker after having checked the usual places.

"No, I haven't seen him yet," Sara confessed. "If you need him, just try his cell."

"Thanks," Morgan smiled at her. Why hadn't she thought about that herself? She quickly dialed Greg's number, which of course was number one on her speed dial. To her surprise, he didn't answer.

"Strange," she muttered to herself. She went to find Russell, hoping he could tell her more.

"No, I haven't seen Greg," he however told her. "He was supposed to work tonight, but he hasn't come in."

"He hasn't?" She started to get worried now. There wouldn't be something wrong, would there?

"He's not answering his cell either," Russell continued. She shook her head. "No, I know, I tried calling him myself."

"And he's still not picking up? Okay, that's not right," Russell said, standing up. "I can imagine him ignoring my call, but yours… You know where he lives, right?"

"Yeah, I…"

"Good. Drive over to his house and see if he's there. Call me once you've been there," Russell ordered her. She immediately wanted to rush outside, but Russell stopped her for a moment. "Please drive safely. If something's wrong with Greg, you're of no help if you get hurt yourself."

"Okay," she quickly nodded. "I'll be careful."

She got her car keys and drove to Greg's house, quickly, but carefully. When she walked up to the front door, she already saw the entire house was dark. She still rang the doorbell, but it didn't surprise her no one answered. She next checked the street. Greg's car was nowhere to be seen. She knew she was supposed to call Russell, but she decided to first talk to his neighbors.

"I saw him earlier," his next-door neighbor remembered. "He took off in his car, rather quickly, I must say. I just figured he got a call out and that he was in a hurry because of that."

"Thank you," Morgan said before grabbing her cell phone to call Russell.

"I'll see if I can track his navigation system," Russell said after she had told him what she had found out. "You best come back here."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

When she was back in Russell's office, he had already managed to figure out where Greg had gone to.

"The airport," he told her.

"The airport?" she repeated. "Why was he going there in such a hurry?"

"I checked with all the airlines: he flew out to LA," Russell knew.

"LA?" she repeated, still not understanding.

"I made a few calls to LAX and I found out he rented a car there," Russell continued. "The person who rented him the car remembered him as Greg told him he didn't need any driving instructions, he knew exactly where he was going…"

She finally understood: "San Gabriel. He was going there, he must be going there!"

"That's what I thought as well," Russell agreed with her. "Listen, Morgan, it's not like Greg to suddenly take off like this. I'm… I'm worried about him. I want you to fly to LA and then drive up to San Gabriel to find him. I could just call the local police stations and hospitals to find out what's going on, but if something is indeed wrong, I want you to be there for him. If something is wrong, he… he'll need you."

Morgan nodded without saying a word. Yeah, if something was wrong she was the only person whose help he would accept.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the reviews after the first chapter! I know you're all curious to find out what happened to Greg, so I'll just stop talking here and let you enjoy the chapter! Just let me know what you think in a review! :)**

_**Chapter 2**_

After Russell's orders Morgan quickly drove home to pack a few things she might need in San Gabriel. She then drove to the airport, where she checked her phone after she had parked her car to see if Russell had managed to book a flight for her. He had, all she had to do, was show her passport at the check-in desk to get her boarding pass. Once she had it, she tried Greg's cellphone again, just in case he was answering it now. She waited and waited, but he didn't answer.

With a sigh she switched off her phone and sat down in the waiting lounge near her gate. Why would Greg take off to San Gabriel so suddenly? She crossed her fingers on both hands, hoping nothing serious was going on. Maybe he had just forgotten he had to attend a wedding or a birthday party or so… She knew it was a ridiculous thought, but she didn't want to think about all the other possibilities.

Her flight to LA of course left thirty minutes late, which made her even more impatient than she already was. The entire flight she tapped with her fingers on her arm rests, much to the annoyance of the man sitting next to her. She didn't even care that she was annoying him – she just couldn't concentrate on anything as long as she didn't know what was going on with Greg.

As soon as her plane had landed at LAX and passengers were allowed off, Morgan rushed to the luggage belt to get her suitcase. Once she had it, she continued at the same speed to the car rental desk. Russell had called ahead, so she just had to show her driver's license to pick up her car. When she started the car to drive to San Gabriel, she remembered Russell's words from before: _"Please drive safely. If something's wrong with Greg, you're of no help if you get hurt yourself."_

"I hear you, Russell," she murmured. She set the navigation system and started for San Gabriel.

It took her about forty minutes to reach the town where Greg was born. When she had passed the Welcome sign, she parked her car on the side of the road, unsure of where to go now. She finally set the navigation system to the local police station, hoping someone there might be able to help her.

The police station was located not far from the San Gabriel Public Library, across the street of a small white building, which reminded Morgan a little of a church and a castle in one. She parked her car and walked into the police station.

"Good day, can I help you?" a police officer immediately asked her.

"Hello, my name is Morgan Brody," she introduced herself, showing the officer her LVPD ID. "I work for LVPD as a CSI and I'm looking for someone. I was hoping you could help me…"

"If you're looking for a suspect, shouldn't the Las Vegas sheriff contact us?" the police officer said with a frown. Morgan shook her head. "I'm not looking for a suspect, I'm looking for a colleague of mine. He didn't show up for work today and we think he came here as he was born here. His name is Greg Sanders."

"Greg?" the police officer repeated. "I didn't know he was working for LVPD these days…"

Morgan nodded. "Yes, he's an amazing CSI! Do you know him?"

"Yeah, sure I do, we used to go to school together when we were kids!" the officer told her. "He was a total nerd back then, always reading, always doing exactly what the teachers told him…"

He grinned. "We teased him a lot back in those days… Take his books, throw his homework away… We'd just keep going until he'd start crying…"

He grinned again. "Man, we loved that!"

"Oh, yeah, that's something you should be really proud of, yeah!" Morgan said, an angry frown on her face.

"Hey, come on, we were just kids back then!" the officer laughed. Morgan saw the name 'Ryan' was printed on his nametag. She shook her head. "Really great excuse, absolutely brilliant! Which is probably also why you're working as a police officer in a small town while Greg ended up being part of the best crime solving lab in the States."

Officer Ryan finally stopped laughing.

"Do you have any idea where I can find him?" Morgan asked him, still annoyed.

"Eh, I haven't seen him, but I do know where his parents live. I can give you the address, if you like."

Morgan decided not to waste her breath anymore. She just nodded and waited impatiently for the officer to write down the address. As she had been raised to always be polite, she murmured a 'Thanks' before leaving the police station.

As soon as she was outside she shook her head again. Bullying a kid just because he liked to study… She had never understood why that happened. Was it because the other kids were jealous? Or just because they were bored? She decided not to think about it any longer, but to just drive over to the address Officer Ryan had given her.

The house he had sent her to was one like any other. When she saw it, she wondered if it was the house Greg had grown up in. She smiled as she fantasized about little Greg running around the neighborhood. It must have been great for him to grow up here! Then she remembered Officer Ryan and realizing that growing up here had definitely not been so great for Greg. She was glad he had managed to start a new life in Vegas, where he was obviously happy with his job and his friends at work.

Morgan slowly got out of her car, still looking around the neighborhood, and walked up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. When no one answered the door, she tried again, but there was still no answer. She looked around, trying to find a neighbor who could tell her more. In the garden two houses down the street she saw a woman was watching her.

"Excuse me," she said, quickly walking over to the woman. "Do you know anything about Mr. and Mrs. Sanders?"

The woman shrugged her shoulders. "No idea, I don't know anything. If you want to know something, you should ask her!"

She pointed to an old lady sitting in her living room, looking out the window, in the house next to that of Greg's parents. Morgan thanked the woman and walked over to the old lady's house. The old lady had already figured out she was needed, so when Morgan brought her finger up to the doorbell, the door already opened.

"Are you looking for Mrs. Sanders, dear?" the old lady asked her. Morgan smiled at her. "I'm actually looking for their son, Greg. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't seen him in a long time, but if you're looking for him, you should try the hospital."

"The hospital?" Morgan repeated. Her heart started to beat a little faster, all her worries returning.

"Yes," the old lady nodded. "Just two days ago an ambulance showed up here. They came to take Mrs. Sanders. Mr. Sanders went with them, I haven't seen either of them since."

So Greg's mother had been taken to the hospital…

"Thank you so much!" Morgan said to the old lady. She rushed back to her car, quickly setting her navigation to the nearest hospital. She hoped nothing was seriously wrong with Greg's mother, but since he took off so suddenly, she feared the worst.

When she arrived at the hospital, she asked for Mrs. Sanders at the reception desk.

"I don't know what she has, I was just told to ask about her here," she said to the girl behind the reception desk. The girl looked a little suspicious, so Morgan quickly thought of the first acceptable excuse that popped into her mind: "I'm… I'm engaged to her son. He called me, saying his mother was in the hospital, but he was so upset he didn't tell me what was wrong or which room she was in."

The girl finally checked her computer.

"She's in room 421, that's on the fourth floor," she told Morgan. "You can just take the elevator over there."

"Thank you!" Morgan hurried over to the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor. There she started looking for room 421, finding it near the end of the hall. The door of the room was open, so she could look inside. She saw a woman lying in bed, her eyes closed and monitors attached to her. Greg was sitting on one side on the woman's bed, a man Morgan assumed was his father was sitting on the other side. Feeling a little insecure all of a sudden she hesitated.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

She turned around and saw a nurse was standing next to her. Her voice made Greg and his father look up as well.

"Morgan?" Greg got up, a surprised look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I came to find you," she said, turning away from the nurse and slowly entering the room. "You didn't show up for work, so I got worried. Russell tracked your navigation system, that's how we figured out you were here in San Gabriel. I got your address for the police and the old lady in the house next to yours told me I should go here."

To her surprise Greg pulled her into a tight hug. When he let her go, she could see the tears in his eyes.

"What happened to your mother?" she softly asked him.

"She fell and hit her head," Greg told her, fighting back his tears. "She's in a coma… and they have no idea if she'll ever wake up again!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! Here's the next one, hope you'll all like it again and of course: if you do, just leave me a review to let me know! :) Thanks! x**

_**Chapter 3**_

Morgan didn't know what to say.

"The doctors have done several tests," Greg's father said. "They say she can either wake up within a few days, weeks or maybe months… or she might not wake up at all anymore. I just don't know what to do!"

Greg walked over to his father and gave him a hug.

"Well, if they say she could wake up within a few days, that should be something to hold on to, right?" Morgan tried to stay positive. Greg's father nodded. "Yes, of course, but… when I see her lying here…"

Tears started rolling down his face. Greg couldn't hold back his tears anymore either.

"Hey…" Morgan quickly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. After only a few seconds he already pushed her away again, wiping away his tears. She could see he felt embarrassed about crying in front of her, so she didn't say anything about him pushing her away.

"What exactly happened?" she asked Greg's father.

"We were cleaning up the attic," he started telling her. "We had some things we wanted to give away to charity, so we had to move them down from the attic. I had already done most of the heavy things, but there was one box of clothes left. I had put it next to the stairwell – we have these stairs going up to the attic that you have to pull down and push back up – so she could just stand on the stairs, take the box and then climb back down. But then…"

Tears welled up in his eyes again.

"She slipped and fell down," he whispered. "She slid down further, down the stairs to the ground floor and hit her head… Then she just lay there, not moving…"

Greg put an arm around his father. Morgan looked at the woman in the bed. In spite of her white face and all the wires around her, she could still see the resemblance with Greg. He looked like his mother, but also a lot like his father.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Sanders," she softly said.

"Thank you…" Greg's father looked up at her. "Who are you again?"

"I'm Morgan Brody, I work together with Greg," she told him with a little smile.

"Oh, right, in Las Vegas. It's really sweet of you to come out here to see Greg!"

"I was worried when he didn't take any of my calls," she said to Greg's father. "He normally always does…"

She looked at Greg, who shrugged his shoulders. "When my Dad called me, all I could think about was flying over as soon as possible. I never even thought about taking my phone or calling Russell that I wouldn't be in for work."

"It's okay, he'll understand," she reassured him. "Why don't I call him right now? Let him know where you are and that you won't be back for a while."

"Thanks," Greg softly said. Morgan looked at his mother one last time before she left the room to call Russell. He totally understood why Greg had left so quickly without calling.

"Have him call me when he's ready to get to work," Russell told her. "Are you gonna stay with him?"

"I'd really like to, yes," she said.

"Sure, no problem, we'll cover for you back here. Call me when you come back, okay?"

"Okay." She hung up and returned to room 421. Both men sat on the side of the bed again, staring at the woman lying in the bed.

"Why don't you go and get some coffee?" she suggested. "I'll stay here for a moment."

Greg's father nodded. "That would be great. Thank you. Come on, Greg!"

He put an arm around his son's shoulder and took him out of the room with him. Morgan took the chair Greg had been sitting in and sat down next to the bed. She looked at Mrs. Sanders for a moment before she started talking: "I'm not sure if you can hear me or not… They always say it's good to talk to people when they're in a coma, so I might as well now I'm here! I know we've never met, but I'm Morgan Brody, I work together with your son. He told me about you a few times – that he is your only son and that you were always really protective of him because of that. He always tells me that with whatever he does he's always trying to make you proud."

She smiled at the non-responding face. "You should be really proud of him, because he's amazing! He's really great at his work, he's kind, sweet, funny, patient, smart… You've raised him well, Mrs. Sanders, very well! I just can't imagine working without him anymore. Working together with him always makes me so happy, it's just…"

She grinned for a moment. "It's almost too good to be true! Whenever I'm down, he always manages to make me smile… When I don't know what to do next, he'll think of something to do… Whenever our supervisor has us work on a case together, I automatically start smiling. He's just amazing!"

She smiled again. "I never told him that, don't worry. Not that I think he'll be vain about it, not at all! I'm just afraid that if I tell him that he'll figure out how I feel about him and I'm not sure how he'll respond… Or maybe I do, because I've seen him blush more than once when people think we're together or when our supervisor jokes about it… I guess he definitely feels something for me, I'm just scared he won't feel as strong as I do…"

She grinned to herself. "Funny… Before I knew he had come to see you, I was planning on telling him how much I love him… But now we're here and we're away from work I'm just too scared to do so… What do you think, Mrs. Sanders, should I tell him?"

She looked up at the white face. With a frown she sat up. Did she just see Mrs. Sanders's eyelids move? No, it must have been her imagination.

"Hey…"

She turned around and saw Greg had returned. She gave him a little smile. "Hey. How are you doing?"

Greg took the chair his father had been sitting in and sat down next to her. "I don't know… Seeing her here like this, it's just… I don't know, I don't even have the words for it. And then you're here… You really came all the way out here to see if I was okay?"

"Of course, I was worried!" she honestly told him. "You didn't answer your phone, you weren't at home… I was so relieved when Russell figured out you had flown to LA and rented a car. At least we kinda knew where you were! Then I came out here, even meeting one of your old classmates at the police station…"

"Who?" Greg gave her a curious look.

"One that told me he used to bully you. He's officer Ryan now," she told him. Greg groaned. "Jimmy Ryan, I remember him. He wasn't the biggest bully in school, though, he just went along with it because he was afraid of being bullied himself. Man, I hated their group… But I managed to get back at them!"

"Really? How?" She sat up, looking at him. He grinned. "Before we went to Junior High, we had to do this school production thing, kinda like a musical. I got along great with my teacher and he helped me with the whole idea: we had to dress up like clowns and sing this really stupid song. On the day of the show, I called in sick, so they had to do the act without me. The entire school laughed at them and they never bullied anyone again after that!"

Morgan grinned. "That must have been great!"

"Yeah, it was…" Greg fell silent again, returning his attention to his mother. Only now Morgan noticed his hand was on hers. In spite of the situation her heart started beating faster. Did it mean something or was it just a coincidence? Suddenly she felt his grip tightening. Before she could say something about it, Greg called out: "Morgan, look!"

He jumped up to take a closer look at his mother. This time Morgan was sure she saw Mrs. Sanders's eyelids move.

"Get a nurse!" Greg ordered her. She immediately rushed out of the room to do as he had asked her to do. Within minutes she returned to the room with a nurse and a doctor. The doctor told them to leave straight away, almost pushing them out of the room. Greg ran off to get his father from the cafeteria, while Morgan just waited outside the room. When Greg returned with his father, he took her hand again, squeezing it for a moment. She gave him a reassuring smile. It had to be a good sign!

Twenty minutes later the doctor and nurse came out of the room.

"And?" Greg asked them. The doctor smiled at him. "You can relax, she's starting to wake up! It may take a few more days, but she's slowly coming out of her coma!"

Greg and his father hugged each other, happy smiles on their faces. All of a sudden Greg pulled Morgan into a hug as well, kissing her quickly on her cheek. She tried not to blush, but she suddenly felt a whole lot of butterflies in her stomach…

Greg and his father stayed with Mrs. Sanders the rest of the day while Morgan got them coffee or something to eat from time to time. By the time the sun started to set, Mr. Sanders told his son to go back to the house.

"Take Morgan with you," he said.

"Dad, no, I wanna stay here!" Greg protested.

"I'll call you if she does wake up – the doctor just visited her, you were there and you heard what he said: she's starting to wake up, but she definitely won't be awake tonight," his father said. "Go home, take Morgan with you. I'll call you if something changes!"

He gave his son such a strict look Greg nodded. "Okay."

Morgan followed him out of the room. They rode the elevator in silence, not speaking until they had reached the parking lot.

"We can probably leave your car here as we'll be coming back here anyway tomorrow," he said.

"Okay," she simply responded.

During the ride back to the house of his parents he was quiet as well. He actually looked nervous, Morgan realized. Was it because he was afraid of what he might see?

As soon as he had opened the door, she knew that was exactly why he had looked so nervous: there was blood on the floor just at the foot of the stairs next to an empty cardboard box. Clothes were covering every flight of the stairs.

"Hey…" She quickly grabbed Greg's shoulders and forced him to look at her. "Remember: your mother is starting to wake up, she'll be fine again, okay?"

He slowly nodded. "Okay…"

"Look, why don't you go and make us some coffee while I'll clean up here?" she suggested.

"I can…" he started, but then he changed his mind. "Okay."

He went into the kitchen. Morgan grabbed the empty cardboard box and started picking up the clothes on the stairs. She then went to the kitchen as well and managed to find some cleaning products to clean up the blood.

"Thank you," Greg softly said when she was done. She gave him a little smile. "No problem. Thank you for the coffee."

He smiled a little back at her. "No problem."

He pointed over to the couch. "Can we sit down for a moment? There's, eh, something I want to talk to you about."

"Sure." A little unsure she sat down. Greg sat down next to her, taking a deep breath before he blurted out: "I heard what you said to my mother."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I left you guys with a cliffhanger after the last chapter, I hope you can all forgive me after reading this chapter!  
****This is the last chapter for this story - thanks to everyone who has reviewed / favorited / followed it, it really means so much to me! :D Hope you will all enjoy this last chapter and if you do, just let me know! :)**

_**Chapter 4**_

Morgan froze. Greg had heard what she had said to his mother?

"How… much have you heard?" she carefully asked him.

"Everything."

She swallowed. He had heard everything? Including… She was sure her heart stood still at that moment. He had heard her say she wanted to tell him how much she loved him…

He looked at her, an insecure look in his eyes. "Did you mean it?"

"What? That I wanted to tell you how much I love you?" She didn't even care anymore. Shrugging her shoulders she just nodded. "Yeah, I meant it. From the moment I first met you I haven't been able to get you out of my head. At first I thought it was just a crush, then I figured I might be falling in love with you and… well, now I realize I really love you. I just don't know if you love me back…"

She stared at the floor, suddenly feeling very vulnerable now she had confessed to her feelings.

"What would you do if I told you I loved you too?" he wanted to know. She looked up at him, too scared to think what she was hoping for. "I'd… be really happy, I think… I don't know, I never thought about that…"

"You never thought I felt something for you too?" he carefully asked.

"Of course I did, I think you really feel something for me too," she said. "I just don't know if it's the same thing I feel…"

"I don't know what you feel, so I don't know if I feel the same…"

She looked up at him. Suddenly they both started laughing, a happy laugh that took the tension between them away.

"This really is the most ridiculous conversation I've ever had!" Morgan grinned. Greg grinned as well. "Me too!"

Then he became serious again. "But I really do feel something for you too, Morgan. More than just something, actually. I think… I kinda love you too…"

She raised her eyebrows. "Kinda?"

"Kinda a lot…" he softly continued. "Kinda a whole lot… Kinda the love that makes me crazy and unable to stop thinking about you… The kind of love that makes me forget everything else…"

When he looked at her, all her insecurity disappeared. There was no doubt about it anymore: he felt exactly the same as she felt.

"The kind of love that makes you… kiss me?" she carefully suggested. He hesitated for a moment, but she already knew why. She moved a little towards him and softly whispered: "Your parents aren't here and they really won't walk in on us…"

"I know, it just feels… strange," he admitted. Suddenly he jumped up. "Come on, I have an idea!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Without questioning his sudden move she just followed him. She had no idea where they were going, but she trusted him – he could take her anywhere he wanted.

Greg took her to a park not too far from his house. Because it was already dark outside, she could see the stars sparkling in the sky.

"Oh, Greg, it's beautiful!" she whispered. He smiled at her, a warm, loving smile that made her heart beat faster again. "I love coming here at night… It's so beautiful! And now it's even more beautiful because you're here…"

"Oh, Greg!" She wrapped her arms around her and hugged him. When she started to move back, he pulled her closer again and slowly kissed her. She automatically closed her eyes, feeling how right this was.

"I love you, Morgan," he whispered in her ear when they broke apart. She immediately pulled him close again. "I love you too!"

The next morning, after having spent over two hours in the park kissing, talking and watching the stars, they returned to the hospital. Greg's father had fallen asleep next to the bed, but…

"Mum!" Greg called out. His mother moved her eyes a little, a vague sign of recognition.

"You're awake!" Greg rushed up to his bed while his father slowly woke up. As soon as he saw his wife's eyes were open, he jumped up.

"Good morning!"

Morgan turned around and saw a nurse had entered the room.

"Mrs. Sanders opened her eyes earlier this morning," she told them. "She's not quite awake yet, so please take it easy on her, but you can talk to her. And before the day is over she'll start talking back to you as well, I'm sure of that!"

Greg's father was so happy he spontaneously hugged the nurse, which made her, Greg and Morgan grin. Still smiling she left the room, leaving the three of them with Mrs. Sanders. Greg grabbed Morgan's hand and pulled her over to the bed. "Mum, you really need to wake up, because I really want you to meet Morgan."

He proudly smiled at her. "She's my girlfriend."

His words made Morgan smile immediately. His girlfriend… She really was his girlfriend now!

Before six hours had passed, Mrs. Sanders was fully awake. At first she had a little trouble realizing where she was, but she slowly became aware of the situation and started talking. She was really happy Greg, her only child, had come to see her and even happier that he had brought his girlfriend.

"I didn't even know you had a girlfriend!" she said. Greg blushed shyly, looking away from his mother. Morgan gently squeezed his hand. "Probably because we're still keeping it a secret from everyone at work at the moment."

"Oh… I see! But it's great to meet you, Morgan!" Mrs. Sanders smiled. Morgan smiled back at her. "It's great to meet you too!"

Because Mrs. Sanders had been in a coma, the doctors wanted to keep her in the hospital for a little while longer. Even though Greg would love to stay with her, he decided it was best for him and Morgan to return to Las Vegas. Greg's father promised to call them every day to let them know how things were going.

"As soon as I have some days off again, I'll come back!" Greg promised. His mother smiled at him. "That would be great, Gregory. Take Morgan with you if you can!"

Greg hesitantly looked at her.

"I'd love to!" she immediately said. "When we're back in Vegas, we'll talk to our supervisor to see what he can arrange for us!"

A few hours later, when they were waiting for their flight at LAX, Greg asked her about what she had said to his mother.

"We'll have to tell Russell about us," Morgan said. "I know I said to your Mum we were keeping our relationship a secret, but you know we can't. Not after Russell sent me over to San Gabriel to find you."

Greg looked at her. "We're really in a relationship?"

She smiled at him with a warm look in her eyes. "Yes, we are…"

His shy face made him even more adorable, she thought and she smiled again. Coming to San Gabriel might not have had a happy reason, but it had turned out great for them!

When they were back in Las Vegas, they immediately went to CSI as it was still nighttime. Russell was in his office when they came in, greeting them with a happy face.

"I'm really glad your mother is okay again," he said to Greg, getting up from his chair.

"Thanks," Greg said. "I would like to go back once she's out of the hospital, just to make sure she's okay."

"Yes, of course, just let me know when!" Russell nodded.

"And I'd like to take Morgan with me," Greg continued.

"Aha." Russell looked from Greg to Morgan and back. "Is this what I think it is?"

With a smile, Morgan took Greg's hand, looking at him. "Yes, it is."

"Well, that was about time! Anyway, I'll see what I can do for you," Russell quickly continued before they could say something about his first comment. "But why don't you go over to the breakroom first of all? I'm sure the rest of the team will be glad to hear Greg's mother is doing fine again. And about you two of course!"

"Mostly about us," Morgan realized. Russell nodded, knowing she was right. It was proven by Hodges walking in, his mouth falling open when he saw her and Greg holding hands. "Are you… You… Are you…"

Grinning Morgan nodded with her head towards the breakroom. "Come on, we'll tell you and the rest of the team all about it before you start spreading rumors about us secretly getting married in San Gabriel!"

"What?" Hodges's eyes grew larger. Still grinning, Morgan grabbed Greg's hand even tighter and pulled him over to the breakroom to tell the rest of the team they were dating now. She wouldn't mind telling them more about how they got together, but she didn't want to share the memory of their first kiss. That was their thing, just theirs. It had been so romantic, kissing under the stars in the beautiful park of San Gabriel. She knew it would always be their special place, even though she didn't know yet the place would become even more special – she had no idea yet that when they'd return to the park one year from the day they had first kissed Greg would get down on one knee to propose to her.


End file.
